1. Related Technical Fields
Related technical fields include feature information collecting apparatuses, methods, and programs that collect information about features included in image information of the vicinity of a vehicle
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional navigation apparatuses correct the position correction of a vehicle by recognizing features included in image information of the vicinity of the vehicle (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-H09-243389). The image information is acquired by an imaging device or the like mounted on the vehicle. The navigation apparatus detects an intersection by recognizing an intersection symbol in the image data and finds the distance from the vehicle position to the intersection symbol. A vehicle position correcting device corrects the vehicle position to a point on the traveled road that deviates by the distance from the intersection position. The intersection symbol denotes, for example, a traffic signal, a pedestrian crossing, or the white lines for the center divider.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2000-293670, a database is disclosed that relates to such features. Instead of manually recognizing features, features are photographed while a specialized measurement vehicle is traveling, and the features are automatically recognized from the photographed images.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2006-038558, discloses a navigation apparatus that collects information about features based on the results of image recognition of target features that are included in image information about the vicinity of the vehicle. In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2006-038558, traffic signs and road traffic information display boards that are provided along the road serve as target features. In addition, feature information such as the sign information extracted from the recognition results is stored in a map database in association with position information and section information. At this time, the position information and the section information that are associated with the feature information is determined based on information from a GPS receiver, a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, or the like that are generally used in navigation apparatuses.